Yo dude, just wanted to add something about why academy are not in H6:

In the timeline, H6 is set in 564 YSD. The Seven Cities become the Silver Cities in 771 YSD and this is when the academy really starts with gargoyles, golems and titans coming out. So they are "non-existent" in 564 YSD in terms of troops. Wizards were mainly powerful individuals and have been around for long (Sar-Elam, Sar-Shazzar) but have not had no army.

Watch for the expansions:

1st - Elves vs Dark Elves
2nd - Wizard and Dwarves

My opinion.

u do realize that history is not an actual history but more of what they decide it to be ? they can make up a story and bring the titans and golems in or they can simply make other creatures like they did with inferno... with that being said... academy sux

My opinion

There is an official timeline now and all might & magic games will be based on this world of Ashan, so i think they are sticking to the history as made out in the timeline. The silver cities is the true home of academy and this is in 771 YSD.

Quote:The curious fact: the capital of orcs on islands Pao, Taumata-Kunyak, has analog in our world!
"Taumata - a hill in height of 300 meters, being in New Zealand (by the way, in language of Maori this country is called Aotearoa - reminds anything?). This name reduced by local residents (Maori Taumata) for convenience in dialogue. In the full version transfer sounds like «Hill's top where Tamatea, the man with the big knees which rolled down, got and swallowed the mountains, known as eater of the earths, played the nasal flute for the beloved»." (from Wikipedia)

I always love seeing in-game references to real life cultures and traditions! ____________
Signature? I don't need no stinking signature!

Yaeliccc is right. It's their lore and they can change anyhow they please. I would rather they won't though, or they will be bashed by the fans as being inconsistent. Academy can still be featured even with a entire different cast of units. Although, I doubt that they will be in for different reasons. Anyway, I seriously don't think that there will be two factions per expansion.
____________
Signature? I don't need no stinking signature!

Well If we look at the Centaur description
We can see that the reason why centaurians have rebelled against the wizards is, that they have been replaced by the Constructs "Gargoyles, Golems, Colosses)so they should already by present in the time of Heroes VI. Necromancers can't be the only army that the seven Cities have.
____________
I'm just a Mirror of your self.

We see, we look, we gather, we store, we teach.
We are many, and you can be one of us.

Quote:The curious fact: the capital of orcs on islands Pao, Taumata-Kunyak, has analog in our world!
"Taumata - a hill in height of 300 meters, being in New Zealand (by the way, in language of Maori this country is called Aotearoa - reminds anything?). This name reduced by local residents (Maori Taumata) for convenience in dialogue. In the full version transfer sounds like «Hill's top where Tamatea, the man with the big knees which rolled down, got and swallowed the mountains, known as eater of the earths, played the nasal flute for the beloved»." (from Wikipedia)

I always love seeing in-game references to real life cultures and traditions!

Same goes for Hashima ____________
Let us rally an army against fred. Fred prepare for the metallic taste of doom.
-Celfious

"You were born a Griffin! The story of your life is yours to write, but choose your ink wisely. There are only two colors... your blood or your tears."
In Might & Magic Heroes, you are proposed two distinct ways of writing your destiny. Your blood descends from the Dragon-gods themselves, and if you follow your instincts, attacking fast and hard, throwing caution to the wind, your blood will serve you well.
There is also another way to write your hero's story. You can do your best to understand the complexity of a situation before acting rashly. This path is for seekers of knowledge, protectors and the curious at heart. It is full of moments of surprising happiness, but also times of tragic sadness. This is the path of Tears.
Whatever path you choose, you must follow it through to its logical end. True heroes are true to their hearts. Whether trusting Blood or risking Tears, writing the story of your destiny will be an exciting adventure.

In H6 the player will be faced with a very important Reputation choice between two different "moral paths": the path of Dragon Tears and the path of Dragon Blood.
This is not a Manichean "Good vs Evil" dichotomy but rather a dynamic concept of conflicting perspectives.

Blood Heroes will be active and offensive, Tears Heroes will be more reactive and defensive.
Imagine, for instance, that your hero stumbles upon an innocent person being assaulted by a robber.
Like a "Punisher", the Blood hero will chase the robber and attack him to prevent him from causing more harm.
Like a "Paladin", the Tears hero will interpose himself between the robber and its victim. He will try to intimidate or persuade the robber, and comfort the victim.

2) What are the IG consequences of these choices?

Your hero's path will strongly influence your player's experience:
In terms of storytelling, it will unlock special quests on each campaign map, different companion heroes, and a unique "epilogue" map linked to your path.
Gameplaywise, it will grant you access to specific "advanced classes", 4 per faction, each with their unique visuals and sets of abilities. The more Reputation you gain, the more powerful your Reputation-related abilities become. For instance, Healing (a Light spell) will be influenced by your Tears rating, whereas Fireball (a Fire spell) will be influenced by your Blood rating.
This is truly a unique system, never before seen in a strategy game.

3) What can we expect from the advanced classes? Will they work like in H4?

No, because they're not based on a specific combination of abilities but rather on your Reputation choices.
Your heroes' classes will ultimately be defined by their faction, their affinity (Might or Magic) and their Reputation choice.
For instance, a Might hero from the Haven faction will start as a "Knight" and can later evolve into a "Paladin" (Tears) or a "Vindicator" (Blood).

4) Can you hold your class advancing? Or will it happen automatically?

Most ingame actions will award Reputation points.
For instance, if your enemies flee before your powerful army, choosing to let them escape will grant you Tear points. Chasing them down to kill them will give you Blood points.
More generally, using Tear abilities will grant you Tear points, and the same goes for Blood.
Many quests will also offer a Reputation choice and they will reward you with the appropriate Reputation points. These gains are not mutually exclusive. Your Blood and Tears ratings are not co-dependant and you never lose the Reputation points you've gained. When you reach a certain Blood or Tears threshold, you're offered the choice of evolving into the corresponding Reputation advanced class This is not automatic; you have to return to one of your towns to change classes. So you can wait until you have reached both of the Tears and Blood thresholds, and then make your choice.
Every ten levels, you can also "respec" your hero's Reputation (and therefore their class and abilities). But in the single player campaigns, you have to make a final Reputation choice at a certain moment, and you cannot go back and respec (for obvious storytelling reasons).

Interesting Q&A about reputation system, although I thought there will be 3 branches instead of 2: Evil, Neutral, Good (I failed to remember where it was mentioned though). But it appears there will be only 2: Tear or Blood.

Anyway, Erwan mentioned this:
"Your hero's path will strongly influence your player's experience:
In terms of storytelling, it will unlock special quests on each campaign map, different companion heroes, and a unique "epilogue" map linked to your path.
Gameplaywise, it will grant you access to specific "advanced classes", 4 per faction, each with their unique visuals and sets of abilities. The more Reputation you gain, the more powerful your Reputation-related abilities become. For instance, Healing (a Light spell) will be influenced by your Tears rating, whereas Fireball (a Fire spell) will be influenced by your Blood rating.
This is truly a unique system, never before seen in a strategy game."

But I think it is pretty similar with Medal System on KB: Armored Princess. But well not exactly the same but you got my point.
____________

Is the tear/blood pool based on the player or on a specific hero ? Meaning, do our choices affect all our heroes or only the main hero ? Could a secondary hero choose a different path than our main hero ? or do all our secondary heroes actions fill up our tear/blood pools ?

Is the tear/blood pool based on the player or on a specific hero ? Meaning, do our choices affect all our heroes or only the main hero ? Could a secondary hero choose a different path than our main hero ? or do all our secondary heroes actions fill up our tear/blood pools ?

choices affect the hero making the choices of course however within the campaign u will play with the same hero hence the choices will be of greater value (but other heroes that are just visiting heroes can make their own path.... once the level is done so are they)

Is the tear/blood pool based on the player or on a specific hero ? Meaning, do our choices affect all our heroes or only the main hero ? Could a secondary hero choose a different path than our main hero ? or do all our secondary heroes actions fill up our tear/blood pools ?

It is based in the player. You can choose what advanced class you want to go towards. The choice affects your active hero and not all your heroes (ie. have to battle, etc.)

I am thinking that all this won't affect one faction: Stronghold.

I don't think you can choose a might or magic orc hero, only might surely. And you would go for blood not tears as orc.....

Dragon blood:
Good for attacking fast and hard
Blood heroes -> active and offensive (eg a haven might hero [knight] will become “Vindicator”)
Spells -> good for fireball (fire spell)
Enemy opts to flee -> kill them to gain blood

Dragon tears:
Good for seekers of knowledge, protectors and curious at heart
Tears heroes -> reactive and defensive (eg a haven might hero [knight] will become “Paladin”)
Spells -> good for healing (light spell)
Enemy opts to flee -> let them to gain tears

Quote:I am thinking that all this won't affect one faction: Stronghold.

I don't think you can choose a might or magic orc hero, only might surely. And you would go for blood not tears as orc.....

I've never seen anywhere that Stronghold wouldn't get a magic hero. It will most likely be like the H3 battlemage which had only a few basics in magic and was progressing faster in attack

Also, why couldn't an Orc go for tears ? If they couldn't, why should a Haven hero be able to go for blood ? If you're shocked by an Orc going for tears ... what about an Inferno hero ?

Erwan said it was beyond being "good or evil", it's more of a philosophy. We know that Sandor is going to the Griffin Empire with a huge army and they said : "Whether he comes as a savior or a conqueror is ours to decide"

Actually, Marzhin said the Rakshasa was voted best creature ever by one H5 community, not by "all" the fans

Frankly, I think the "Rakshasa voted best creature" should be taken with a grain of salt. The voting was done when there were at best 10 active members in this forum - so it's hardly representative towards overall fan base.
____________
What will happen now?

About orcs going tears or magic seriously why not? Pretty much sounds like what Kujin would be if she was in H6. Calm, reasonable, diplomatic and a shaman which implies some relation to magic.
____________
Let us rally an army against fred. Fred prepare for the metallic taste of doom.
-Celfious

I am horrible at spelling, but Gotai (one of the two campaign heroes for Stronghold) was a decent 'spellcaster'. His special meant almost endless war cry ability. So I don't see why Stronghold wouldn't have a 'magic' class. Shamans were spell casters after all.

Now with the ability to chose your path instead of random luck..a spell slinging Stronghold hero would not be out of the question. I am going to guess that 'primordial' is their spell category of choice.
____________
Message received.